Nightlife

Feed the Dogs

When making my video, I tried to picture a story in my head that would go along with my compositions, and make the sound of my composition even better.  I had a story in my head of my mom calling me to go over and feed her dogs while she was gone.  The story developed from there as I started collecting and filming video, and my ideas really came to life as I started the editing process.  I drew my inspiration from the sound and context of my deliberate composition

Video Proposal

Alli Williams

When I hear my composition play, I think of many jump cuts of scenes, because of all the clicks and skips in the record that plays throughout the whole song.  I’ve always wanted to create a stop motion film, and I think rather than doing a fluid video, a stop motion film would go well with the composition.  I think an ‘adventure’ to my parents’ house to feed their dogs would go well with the story line of my vocal parts of the composition, and the overall feel of the composition as well.  At the part where a motorcycle is revving, I would want to show me driving to the store to buy dog food, or just driving to my house to feed the dogs.  I know at the part where there is silence, then a loud screeching noise, there needs to be something big and exciting.  I was thinking of making the rest of the video more slowly paced, and almost dream-like, and then having that scene in the film be the defining part of the whole video, however I haven’t brainstormed a great defining moment yet.  After that scene is the big finish: the dogs get fed, and I leave my parents’ house with a sense of accomplishment.  I think a simple video for this assignment would be the best approach; however I don’t want to do something that will be visually boring.  Keeping the storyline a very simple, everyday activity can bring a sense of normality to the randomness of my composition, and it would also be visually appealing if it went along well with the music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8JexiISPNk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwX7uEiEWx4&feature=related

Compositions

Random Composition:
Random composition by aewilliams

Deliberate Composition:
Deliberate composition by aewilliams

Mini Golf: A-hole

Our final project of the year was to create a miniature golf hole by using the paper folding program, Pepakura. I first created my design for the hole in Google Sketchup, then used Pepakura to print out the individual pieces that would later form the frame of the hole. I added turf and a ramp at the top of the hole in order to give it more of a mini golf feel, and to make it more functional. The concept for the hole is to create a pun, a hole that's in the shape of the letter A, an A hole. I like the simplicity of the hole and I'm hoping it adds to the appeal of the hole overall. And if the letter grade I receive has any resemblance to the hole, I will be thrilled =)

Leo Villareal - Art Exhibit

Leo Villareal is a digital artist who has a three-month long lightshow exhibit at the Nevada Museum of Art. The exhibit features many different animated light shows that include fluorescent light, strobe light, etc. My favorite piece of Villareal’s at the exhibit was a piece called Diamond Sea. Diamond Sea is a large rectangular pane of mirror finished stainless steel with white lights that travel across the entire grid in a specific pattern. The grid moves between dim and fully lit light to project a sense of depth in the piece, and while you’re watching the lights move you are also watching yourself in the reflection of the back drop.

Some of Villareal’s other showcased works were Lightscape, Big Bang, Chasing Rainbows, and Star. There was also a separate room on the second floor apart from the rest of Villareal’s light shows that shows a ceiling of lights. The lights were constantly flashing strobe lights, and the room provided chairs for viewers to sit and look up at the flashing ceiling above.

The installation titled Star was the main piece shown as you walk into the art museum. It was unlike many of Villareal’s other works, because it featured a steel web with lights attached in a star-like form.

The exhibit overall was very different from the rest of the art in the museum, and other exhibits I’ve seen. The way he expresses his art through light and computer software is a digital media idea that not only takes artistic aesthetic, but also knowledge of computer programs. Leo Villareal’s exhibit can be seen through May 22^nd at the Nevada Museum of Art. For more information visit www.nevadaart.org

Pete Froslie - Artist Lecture

Digital media artist Pete Froslie is a graduate from Nevada who went on to study at the Studio for Interrelated Media in Boston.  Froslie has had multiple shows in Reno and Boston, and has been featured at Comicon in San Diego. He sparked an interest in digital media that first began with cracking open toys and figuring out the mechanics of the toys. He has since created many installations involving the use of mechanical toys.

Froslie’s latest ongoing project is all about the story of John Wilks Booth. Froslie is creating a new persona and a whole different character, and using Booth as the physical representation of the character. The idea of this project is very interesting, in that Froslie is acting as a novelist, creating a story around his Booth character. My favorite aspect of his Booth project was his idea to create an image for a penny stretching machine that was the Booth character. The irony of the project is pretty funny; I like the idea of taking a penny with Lincoln’s image and printing an image of Booth over that.

Froslie’s artworks overall were very engaging, I enjoyed his installations that made use of robotics. His aesthetic seems to be a very ironic type of viewpoint, and his artworks are generally based on complex ideas. To see more of Pete Froslie’s work, visit http://www.froslie.com/Main_Page.html